House Freedom Caucus files petition to force vote on ‘clean repeal’ of #Obamacare

During a pro forma session, where there are no scheduled formal business proceedings, members of the House Freedom Caucus on Friday filed a petition to force the clean repeal of Obamacare, out of committee and to the floor for a vote.

“This is an effort by House conservatives to force a vote on the bill most already supported before, but also to get members on the record for or against clean repeal,” House Freedom Caucus spokeswoman Alyssa Farah told the Washington Examiner.

The House Freedom Caucus made the move after the Senate failed to pass the repeal-only aspect of the bill last month, despite similar legislation passing in 2015.

According to Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), it’s time for members of Congress to keep their “promise to the American people and repeal Obamacare and replace it with a policy that works for American families.”

The petition is also backed by Republican Study Committee Chairman Mark Walker (R-N.C).

“Republicans already sent this bill to the president in 2016, and should do it again. The only thing that changed since then is that with Donald Trump as president, this bill would actually be signed into law,” Rep. Walker said in a statement. “This repeal should be the bare minimum Republicans pass on Obamacare as it fulfills the promise we all made to repeal Obamacare. I look forward to signing this petition on the House Floor when we return from recess.”

In order to successfully force the bill out of committee, the petition needs a simple majority of 218 signatures to pass.